Cushioned seat ventilator



Sept. 4, 1962 J. M. NESS CUSHIONED SEAT VENTILATOR Filed Dec. 1, 1960.hmesM/Vess tats Uri

This invention relates to cushioned seat ventilators and the like andparticularly to the covers or casings for the inner coiled wire unit ofsuch ventilators.

The invention contemplates the provision of a relatively inexpensivecasing for the inner unit, which casing has resilient and cushioningproperties for the comfort of the user, and yet Which does notappreciably lessen the ventilating air space when loaded.

The invention further contemplates the provision of an inexpensive onepiece mesh or net-like cover of synthetic plastic material for the majorpart of each face of the unit, the marginal portions of the cover beingimperforate and secured to the corresponding marginal portion of thecover for the other face of the unit by means other than stitching.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a seat ventilatorhaving mesh covers for the front and rear faces of the inner unit, thecovers being resilient and heat sealed together at the edge portionsthereof and made of sheet plastic material and of such shape andstructure as to resume the original shape thereof when any load thereonhas been released, the covering comprising channel-shaped elements ofsubstantially uniform thickness of material.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the descriptionwhich follows and from the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of a typical seat ventilator to which the invention has beenapplied, those parts which would be seen through the openings of thefront cover having been omitted for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the edge portion of theventilator, showing the similar front and rear covers and the innerunit.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view thereof, the net-like central portion ofthe rear cover having been omitted for clarity.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged rear elevational view of one of thecovers, showing the channel-shaped elements of the mesh and the uniformthickness thereof.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view, greatly enlarged, of a single meshelement showing in dash-dot lines the shape which the element tends toassume as it flattens under load.-

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view of a modified form of the mmhcover.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

The inner coiled wire unit 10 may be of any suitable form and material,but as shown, it is of the type disclosed in the Crane Patent No.2,801,681. In said patent, the flattened coils of rows as 11 and 12 ofcoiled wire intersect and are interlocked, the rows being formed of alength of coiled wire wound around a thicker border wire as 13.Heretofore, the covers forming the casing for the unit have been an openmesh fabric woven of twisted paper yarn or the like having a relativelyshort useful life, and possessing little, if any, resilience.

In the present invention, the front cover 14 and the rear cover 15 arenot made of yarn, but are instead made of intersecting integral rows ofyieldable line elements 1.6. Such yieldable elements are resilient andserve to impart a desirable cushioning characteristic to each face ofthe otherwise laterally incompressible inner unit, supporting atent icethe body as well as conforming to the shape of the body. Heretofore,cushioning action could not easily be attained without sacrifice ofventilating space in the ventilator, and the seat cushion or back whichthe ventilator covers, if upholstered, was depended on for whatevercushioning action was procurable. Where the ventilator herein disclosedis intended to cover the back as well as for the seat, a second similarunit is arranged in spaced relation to the unit 10 of FIG. 2 as seen inFIG. 1, and the covers are suitably extended over such second unit. Eachelement 16 is so formed and shaped that it yields individually underload but resumes its initial shape when the load thereon is removed.

The entire casing for both seat and back units may be made of a singlepiece of material devoid of stitching and binding tape or otherfinishing or securing means. In that case, two spaced apart mesh areasfor the central part of the front cover and two similar areas for thecentral part of the rear cover are separated by imperiorate intermediateportions 18. Each cover also has imperforate marginal portions 119, thecorresponding adjacent portions being'suitably secured to each other asby heat sealing, indicated by the stippling in FIG. 1 at such portions'18 and 19. Such scaling is possible when the covers are made, ascontemplated herein, of suitable thin flexible plastic sheet materialsuch as polyethylene. When made of one piece, the cover, before heatsealing, is folded in half along one edge as at the top edge 20 of theback member. When made of two pieces 14 and 15, the marginal portions.19 of the covers are heat sealed together, as are the intermediateportions 18 which form the hinge connection between the units.Obviously, the same type of mesh need notnecessarily be used on both thefront and back covers, but similar mesh is preferred to make theventilator reversible. As shown in FIG. 2, the connected marginalportions 19 lie in about the same plane as thatof the axes of the coilsof the inner unit, that is, about half way between the front and rearfaces of the ventilator. The connected intermediate hinge portions 18are similarly arranged half way between the faces of the units.

The cover-is made of a flexible plastic by a suitable process andsuitable equipment to make the mesh openings 17 and the mesh elements1.6 of the proper shape. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the openings arediamond shaped and the tops of the elements are not coplanar but arearranged in a step-like formation having a high point at the curvedcorner 21 thereof. In FIG. 7, the tops of-the elements are in the samegeneral plane, the rows 22 and 2B intersect at right angles and theopenings 24 are approximately square.

To attain the cushioning'effect desired, regardless of the shapes of theopenings or of the mesh elements, each element is of substantiallyuniform thickness of material and is generally channel-shaped or ofinverted U-shape in cross section. The legs 25, 26 are each free at theinner end and at the outer ends thereof, the legs are joined by the web27 as is best seen in FIG. 6. The inner ends of the channel legs rest,at some points, on the inner wire unit, or, when loaded, said ends areforced inwardly against the unit to make contact therewith at variouspoints. When so loaded, the element tends to flatten out as shown by thedash-dot lines and the arrows of FIG. 6, thereby cushioning the load andresulting in a more comfortable seat for the user. On release of theload, the elements, though thin, spring back and resume the initialchannel shapes thereof.

It will be seen that there has been provided hereby, a relativelyinexpensive peculiarly shaped casing adapted to be made of a singlepiece of flexible sheet plastic and devoid of stitching or binding tape,but adequately secured to the inner unit and providing a desirablecushioning action not present in interlocked units as heretoforecovered, and that the various objects of the invention have beeneffectively attained.

While certain specific forms of the invention have herein been shown anddescribed, various obvious changes have been made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a seat ventilator, an inner spacing unit and a cushioningventilating casing for the unit comprising an integral plastic mesh of asingle piece of resilient material having relatively large openingstherein separated by intersecting elements bounding the openings, eachof the elements being channel-shaped in cross section throughout thelength thereof and being of substantially uniform thickness of materialand being integral with the intersecting elements at the intersectionsthereof.

2. The ventilator of claim 1, each element having a pair of spaced apartlegs free of each other and free of the other elements at an end thereofexcept at said intersections and integrally connected by a continuousweb at the other end thereof, the legs being adapted to spread aparttoward a flattened position independently of the legs and of the otherelements between intersections on the application of load to the web,the legs being sufiiciently resilient to assume the initial positionsthereof on the release of the load.

3. The ventilator of claim 1, the openings being quadrilateral inoutline, the material being thin flexible plastic, each of the elementsbeing closed throughout one side thereof and open throughout the otherside thereof and thin enough to and adapted to flat-ten when loaded andto resume the channel shape thereof when unloaded independently of theother elements between said intersections and :at the points where theelement is in contact with the unit.

4. The ventilator of claim 1, the mesh covering one face of the unit, asimilar mesh covering the opposite face of the unit and means forsecuring together the adjacent marginal portions of the meshes, saidportions being imperforate and the elements being in contact with theunit at random points thereof.

5. In a seat ventilator, an inner unit and a cover for a face of theunit comprising an integral perforate member having spaced apart rowsarranged in two intersecting sets, each row extending from one side ofthe cover to another side and comprising mesh-forming elements eachhaving a continuous uninterrupted cross section of inverted generallyU-shaped form throughout the length thereof integral with the rows ofthe other set at the intersections thereof only, each element beingnormally in contact with random points of the unit and being adapted toflatten under load and being sufiiciently resilient to return to theinitial shape thereof when the load thereon is released, thereby toenlarge the area of contact of the element with the unit when theelement is loaded.

6. The ventilator of claim 5, a second similar back member inlongitudinal spaced relation to the first mentioned member, anintermediate imperforate portion arranged transversely between andintegrally joining the members and an irnperforate' marginal portion oneach member.

7. The ventilator of claim 6, a second unit in spaced relation to thefirst mentioned inner unit and a second similar cover for the oppositeface of the units secured to the first mentioned cover at theimperforate intermediate and marginal portions whereby the units arehinged together at the intermediate portions.

8. In a seat ventilator, an inner spacing unit and a cushioningventilating casing for the unit comprising a resilient one piece net ofplastic material having a multiplicity of relatively large spaced apartopenings therein, said net having continuous elements bounding andoutlining each of the openings, each element separating adjacentopenings from each other and having in cross section a pair of laterallyextending legs joined at an end thereof, the legs being substantiallyfree of each other at the other end thereof and adapted when load is putthere on to move apart toward a flattened position of the element at thepoints where the element is in contact with the inner unit, and therebyto increase the area over which the element is in contact with the innerunit, said element being integrally bondedto those elements adjacentthereto at the points at which said element is in contact with saidadjacent elements, each element being sufficienfly resilient to returnto the initial position thereof when relieved of the load thereon.

9. The seat ventilator of claim 8, each element being of invertedU-shape and the otherwise free ends of the legs being in contact withthe unit at random points.

10. In a seat ventilator having an inner coiled spacing unit, a onepiece resilient plastic mesh constituting a cover for the unit anddistributing the pressure of the body of the user on the unit, said meshhaving a plurality of relatively large openings therethrough over themajor part of the area thereof, the openings being outlined and boundedby continuous elongated elements in contact with adjacent similarelements and integrally bonded thereto at the points of contacttherewith, each element having in cross section a pair of laterallyextending spaced apart legs joined at an end thereof by an integralconnecting web, the legs being substantially free of each other at theother end thereof and free to spread apart toward a flattened positionwhen loaded, and being sufficiently resilient to return to the initialposition thereof when the load thereon is released.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,804,913 Pickard Sept. 3, 1957 2,895,543 Crane et a1. July 21, 19592,897,741 Mauch Aug. 4, 1959' 2,948,333 Goldstein Aug. 9, 196a

